Role: Director

My name is Adam Gaetz. I’m an MD student at Central Michigan University College of Medicine, and I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Health Services Administration from St. Petersburg College in the beautiful state of Florida. Prior to medicine my career was in broadcast television, journalism, radio, cinematography, and photography where I worked as a Producer, Director, Anchor/Host/Talent, Writer, Videographer, Editor, and Journalist with various mass media companies in the Tampa media market and occasionally with national media companies. I transitioned from media to medicine in the mid-2010s and have been on this pathway ever since. I’ve since worked as a Natural Sciences Learning Support Specialist, Microbiology Laboratory Assistant and Teaching Assistant, and as a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant in Neurosurgery.

Leadership, advocacy, and service make up the foundation of how I strive to foster progress and make positive impacts on the lives of others. It’s through my dedicated and extensive efforts over the years that I’ve been able to achieve my goals within various academic institutions, communities, and within our nation as a whole. I’m thrilled to be able to continue my efforts while making national impacts through the AMSA National Foundation.

While in Florida, I was able to work with over 40 service organizations while serving as the President of my College’s AMSA chapter for three years, President of our Medical Club, as well as the Chairman of our Health, Wellness, & Safety Committee. I also had the honor of serving as the Founding President of my College’s Alpha Phi Omega National Co-ed Service Fraternity, Founding President of our SCUBA Diving Club, President, Vice President, Legislative Liaison, and Senator of our Student Government Association over four progressive years, President on our Student Council of Presidents, President of our Tri Beta National Biological Honor Society, Founding Vice President of our Outdoor Club, and Vice President of Honors in Action of our Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. I also served in a two-year national position as the Chair of Region K (Florida & Puerto Rico) on the Alpha Phi Omega National Student Advisory Committee, as a member of the Alpha Phi Omega National Nominating Committee for the Biennial 2023 Alpha Phi Omega National Convention, as a Judge on the Alpha Phi Omega John Mack Scholarship Committee, as the Conference Coordinator and Chairman of the 2022 Alpha Phi Omega Tri-Sectional Conference, and as a National, Regional, and Sectional Workshop Presenter at various Alpha Phi Omega Conferences.

I’ve continued my service efforts in Michigan through CMU Street Medicine, providing free health services, resources, and social services to address the unique needs and circumstances of the underserved, underinsured, and often unsheltered members of our community, and I now have the privilege of serving as a Street Medicine Event Coordinator for Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. I also serve as a Dean’s Ambassador at CMU COM, Co-President of the Neurosurgery Student Focus Group at CMU COM, Facilitator of the Mid-Central Michigan Area Health Education Center’s Health Careers Pipeline Program (AHEC HCPP), Member of the NBME INSIGHTS™ Power User Group, and Question Tagger & Editor for StatPearls. I also design, coordinate, and facilitate clinical workshops for adults, undergraduate students, high school students, and elementary school students across various events including CMU’s annual Sibs & Kids Weekend, CMU’s annual Grandparents University Summer Camp, CMU COM’s annual CampMed Summer Camp, and the aforementioned AHEC HCPP.

Outside of my academic and leadership responsibilities, I love to go SCUBA diving, enjoy being in nature, and spend all of my spare time with my Boston Terrier, Bumper. I’m also captivated by microscopy and am a fan of keeping and observing ant farms and ecospheres.

My philosophy in life is simple: “Do what makes you happy”. If you’re reading this, you’re likely on a selfless path in life that will make extraordinary impacts on the lives of others. The sacrifices you will need to make to be successful in these pursuits will be vast, but the rewards will be invaluable and immensely fulfilling. Keep moving forward, and don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s anything that we may be able to do to help you be successful in attaining your goals.

Jennifer Salehi serves as Executive Director of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the largest, independent student medical association. In this role, Jennifer focuses on mapping the vision, strategy, funding and growth plans for the global organization. She heads up partner development with foundations, nonprofits, and social enterprises; builds networks; and coalesces teams.

Nikitha Balaji (they/them) is a current M1 at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. They are originally from Melbourne, Florida, and graduated from the George Washington University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

Nikitha joined AMSA in 2020, as sweeping anti-LGBT+ legislative attacks spread throughout state legislatures across the nation. Through AMSA, they found the resources and mentorship necessary to develop their agency as a physician-in-training and advocate against the inequities facing their community.

In their previous roles as AMSA’s LGBT+ Health Advocacy Coordinator and Gender and Sexuality Health Policy Coordinator, Nikitha has worked to author and submit pieces of written testimony to state medical boards and state legislatures to communicate the evidence-based harms of anti-LGBT+ legislation. They have also worked with AMSA chapters to develop state-specific advocacy action plans to push back against harmful local legislation. In their role as AMSA’s Transgender Health Scholars Co-Course Director, Nikitha has enjoyed having the opportunity to shine a light on transgender health from the perspective of medical education.

Nikitha is honored to serve AMSA in their current role as president-elect. They are excited to build upon AMSA’s rich history and legacy of driving change in response to ongoing inequity and they look forward to working alongside similarly impassioned future physicians in the process.

Dr. Christina Kelly is a family physician in Fort Bragg, NC, where she is faculty at Womack Army Medical Center Family Medicine Residency and Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She attended John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH for her undergraduate education, where she received a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology. She received her medical degree from the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. She completed her residency and family medicine-obstetrics fellowship training at Tacoma Family Medicine in Washington.
Dr. Kelly has felt a calling to teach in undergraduate and graduate medical education throughout her entire career. She loves the opportunity to work with students and residents in her faculty and leadership roles. Dr. Kelly believes that all medical students have important opinions that need to be heard, and they are a strong force that can create positive change for patients and the field of medicine.

Dr. Kelly has been involved in organizational leadership since she was a second year medical student, and she has always felt passionate about being an advocate for patients. She is particularly passionate about advocacy, mentorship, physician workforce diversity, creating health equity, student and resident burnout prevention, and GME reform. She served on several American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) commissions and held leadership positions in the AAFP as a student, resident and early career physician. Dr. Kelly served as the Family Medicine for America’s Health Workforce Team Leader, and she currently is a member of the AAFP Commission on Education.

Dr. Kelly is married to Dr. Kevin Kelly, a family physician and Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. As an Army wife, Dr. Kelly has the opportunity to live and practice in different parts of the country and broaden her understanding of medicine.

James M. (Jim) Slayton has served in many AMSA roles during his career, including National President (1989-1990) and Foundation Board of Directors member and President (2002-2012, 2014-2016).  He has been a senior Medical Director with Optum Behavioral Health since 2004 and in serves in a quality improvement oversight position related to potential fraud, waste and abuse in healthcare.  He is a former associate residency training director and has continued in a teaching role with the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School.  He is a graduate of Brown University, Stanford Medical School and Harvard Business School.  He is an avid choral musician and cellist, and is the proud father of three children with his husband, Phillip Hernandez, in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Isaiah A. Cochran, M.D. serves as a key organizational spokesperson for AMSA and active promoter of the organization’s educational programming, advocacy pursuits and membership recruitment and engagement efforts.

In addition to serving as an AMSA board member since 2016, Cochran also has held leadership positions with Refugee Student Alliance and Global Health Initiative.

He earned his medical degree from the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. During that time, he engaged in research at Dayton Children’s Hospital to identify incidental brain tumors in otherwise healthy children undergoing routine evaluations for head trauma.

He also investigated if early cognitive markers exist in infants prior to the diagnostic age of 24 months and if they can be utilized to differentiate between males and females with ASD for a study conducted at the Department of Clinical Cognitive Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.